Secondary battery.



W. MORRISON.y

SECONDARY BATTERY. APPLIoATIoN rILBD JUNE a, 1003. RBNBWBD JULY 2s, 1009.

945,186. l A Patented Jan.4,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l I I y1 mi, l I I W. MORRISON. SECONDARY BATTERY.

Patented Jan.4, 1910.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8. 1903. BEHEWED JULY 36, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT. onirica.-

vWILLIAM MonnrsoN, or cnrcneo, ILLnzoxs.

SECONDARY vmurmaar'.

specifies/aon' traum rateaal Patbuted J an. 4', 1910.v

Application led .Tune 8, 1903, Serial No. 160,648. Renewed July: 26, 1909;' Seriallo. 509,890i` 'l To all whom it may izo/:wem: t

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MORRISON, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois,

' l 5 have invented a certain new a'nd useful Imi p)rovement in Secondary Batteriesf @Case of whichthe following is a specification. My invention relates to a particular feature of improvement which is em loyed as al .10 part of the construction of a which there is an alkaline solution and in which zinc is the positive active element, said battery being particularly described in its complete form in an application filed concurrently herewith and designated as Serial Number 160,645, which has become Patent No. 916,575.l

My present invention relates to certain improved means whereby to prevent the wash of* the solution' over and u on the top surface of the positive electro e and also prevent injury which may result from abnormal jars or other like disturl ues.

My invention consists prima'riiJ .n a protecting member which is disposed in a substantially horizontal plane between the positive and ne ativeelectrodes of the battery, which are a so disposed substantially horizontally, said protector being immersed in the solution whereby the wash or continuous swee of the solution is broken up into smalV areas, thus preventing the accumulation of a suilicient quantity of the'positive active material, or such other materials as' may possibly accumulate, and eli'ectually overcomin the injurious effects which follow from slllort cireniting. IReference may..nolivI be had to the accompanying drawings, in which: 40 Figure l is a cross section through a completed cell. Fi'g.`2 is a plan view with the negative electrode partly broken away showing the insulating protectorv in position. 1Fig.'3 is a. detailedl perspectivey view of a 'portion ofthe insulating partition. Fig.` 4

1s an enlarged perspective view ofthe complete battery broken away to show the in- -terior construction, and also to illustrate Va modified form in which a separating dia- '50 phragm is provided.

The positive electrode is disposed in a substantia ly horizontal position at or near the bottom of the cell and designated at A. The particular character of positive electrode erein shown has been described and 'claimed by me inanother application vfiled attery 'inthat the unrestricted wash or swefm th .tween the electrodes duriri concurrentl herewith 'andl'designatedv Serial Num er 160,647. The negative electrode B is disposed above the ositiveleleeh .trode in a like substantially horizontal plane` (o tion is.between and about the elec presents a number of sectins'of-coi tively small area which subdivides; tile tion into small areas.'4 I foundtr' periinents and use.of thimhattery conditions when it received a `siivay tion such as takes place in automobilesolution across the top surface off w tive electrode in this type of battery, A electrode is in a substantially. horirqgiy plane, would detach an appreciable quantity of the activo material or other materialle:v posited upon the surface of the electrode. and carrying it to the side ofv the cell and $5 accumulating it in a suicient quantityfat some one or more particularV point orv points to cause a short'circuit or 'short circuits bcthe operatic ot' the battery.. This insu ating; protector 9.o also erforms another function in holding and insulatin the negative electrode from. the positive e ectode -uniformly and satisfactorily. The i sulatingprotector, therefore, servies two purposes. The one to insulate the negativeelectrode from the ositive electrode and hold` the positive eectrodc frmlyin place, and the other urpseto subdivide the interior of the cell between the positive and negative' electrodesinto scc- 100 tions of such size as to confinethe wash of the solution within comparatively small areas, so that' if the zinc in the solution .should become detached 'from the positive electrode by the small amount of wash still .1.05 remai'..-ing`, 'ir otherwise, it cannot shift such. a distance as to gather together a suflicient quantity of zinc to short circuit, -o`r other,-- wise a'fiect the operation of the battery.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a-'modilied form .of 11C construction of insulating, protector which" may be'used as an-extra precaution, which in manycases is oi distinctive value.` It coi'isists oit a double insulating member' E, each of which are counterparts one of the other and between which is disposed and held a diaphragm 'E2 Which may be of a loose Woven hempen cloth or other suitable porous material. The diaphragm should be made porous in order to permit the free cir@ culation of the solution. This diapliiagm held. as it is in place by the two-part insulatingr protector and disposed. between the two electrodes in a .horizontal plane assists in preventing the accumulation of. material from one electrode to the other and also assists in preventing .the accumulation of detached portions otl one electrode `upon the other. lillois diaphragm also assists in pre venting the wash of the solution from intertering with the operation oit the battery. It is evident that the dia bragm EZ may be disposed upon the top oi. the insulatorshown in Figs. il and with similar results. lt is also obvious that this intermediate diaphragm not indispensable to the operation ot the battery but many eases can be used to advantage.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat l claim as new and desire to procure by Letters ljatent is:

1', inea reversible electric galvanic batter-v.

2. In a reversible electric galvanic bat-y tery, an alkaline solution, a positive zinc electrode in afsubstantially horizontal plane` disposed at or near the bott-om of the cell, a negative element in a substantially horizontal plane above said positive electrode, and a separator comprising a series of vertical partitions in combination with a porous dia;

phragm interposed therebetween, whereby` the electrolyte between the electrodes is subdivided into a plurality of comparatively" small portions.

Signed by me at Chicago7 (look Illinois, this (ith day of June, 1903.

VVILTAM llOltRlSON. i

county,

lVitnesses:

CHAS. C. BULKLEY, WM. A. HAnDnns. 

